Nationalism/Japanese identity

Throughout the novel, Chang places at least some of the blame for the events at Nanking on the development of nationalist and the Japanese identity, making it one of the primary themes of the novel. According to Chang, the identity of the people stems from ancient warriors known as samurai, who believed that to die for their lord was to die with honor. Additionally, the isolation of the country as a whole, beginning with the rule of the Tokugawa clan in the late fifteenth century, also helped shape the nation. For 250 years, the Japanese military failed to advance and were stunned by the power of the American military in 1852 as Commodore Matthew Perry and his fleet of ships arrived, demanding meetings. From that point forward, Japan vowed to seek revenge for what they believed was a public embarrassment. By the 1920s, Japan was facing a devastating...